My father will retire later this year. He will get Rs 30.4 lakh in retirement benefits. How should he invest this sum to earn a monthly income and so that the principal remains intact or grows?

Ankur Choudhary, Co-Founder and CIO, Goalwise replies, “The simplest way is to put the money in a bank deposit that pays out the interest monthly. At 7% interest, he can earn a monthly income of over Rs 17,000 and the principal will remain untouched. If he wants a higher return, then he will have to take some risk and invest in a mix of equity and debt via mutual funds. With about 20% in equity and 80% in debt, one can expect a returns of about 8%-8.5%. He can take out Rs 15,000 every month via a systematic withdrawal plan and the corpus will grow by about 2%-2.5% per annum as well. Higher allocation to equity will increase the risk and is not recommended for a retiree. For equity investment he may consider large-cap funds such as Axis Bluechip and Canara Robeco Bluechip. For debt, Kotak Savings or IDFC Low Duration Fund can be good options. Alternatively, he may invest in conservative hybrid funds like ICICI Prudential Regular Savings Fund or UTI Regular Savings Fund which maintain a similar equity-debt allocation.”

I am new to investing. My employer deducts Rs 4,000 every month and puts it in my NPS account. But the lock-in period of this scheme is till retirement. Please suggest schemes with shorter lock-in period where I can invest Rs 5,000 every month.

Dinesh Rohira, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, 5nance.com replies, “It is imperative to define one’s goals before making any investment. Goals help frame a proper investment strategy with the right mix of asset-class. The objective of investing in NPS is two folds: it helps save tax on an additional Rs 50,000 under Section 80 CCD, and it helps build a retirement portfolio. NPS is better than traditional retirement products, can deliver 10%-plus returns, and manages your asset allocation. If you want to save tax by investing in products with a shorter lockin period, you may opt for tax-saving funds which have a lock-in period of three years. These equity funds will also help you to generate higher inflationadjusted returns and create wealth over a period of time. You may invest equally in Axis Long Term Equity (G) and Mirae Asset Tax Saver (G). If you have already exhausted the Rs 1.5-lakh investment limit under Section 80C, you may instead opt for open-ended funds, Mirae Asset Emerging Equity and Reliance Large Cap.”